I just came across this blog post by Scott Tsuchiyama, Career Advisor at the University of Michigan, on Twitter that I thought was interesting. I regretfully was unable to attend the Module 09 Digital Media Conference last week in Detroit, MI. A few friends of mine were able to attend and I look forward to hearing all about it. My friend Damian Rintelmann was one of the speakers as well as mega blogging sensation Chris Brogan. You can find out more on Twitter #MOD09 I understand they will be offering a video of the event very soon – can’t wait to watch it! I’ll pass on the url to watch as soon as I have it.

Here is one of Scott’s stories from the conference about how Social Media doesn’t make you a better person, it magnifies who you already are. Enjoy!

If you are using Twitter, you have probably seen tweets that contain the “#” symbol followed by something else i.e. #quote. This is called a hashtag and it is a way for you and others to keep tabs on a particular subject. One of the best elements of Twitter is that it allows you to listen to what others are saying about a myriad of topics. So by having a hashtag associated with a topic, you can more easily follow the content related to that topic.

Check out this short video by Mari Smith that explains all about hashtags

So, here are just some baby steps that you usually don’t learn until you are well into your Twitter career (struggling to figure out how to use it). Hopefully these will be helpful.

Don’t ever answer the question “What are you doing?” No one cares that you are drinking coffee and just finished dinner. Answer the question with something that is always informative or helpful. This could be a link to a great article or a video that caught your attention. If you want to tell people that you love a particular song, link to the song (now that’s helpful). Better yet, continually link to helpful content that your customers need for their careers.From a business standpoint, if you focus on a particular subject, you’ll gain a core following quickly. For example, 90% of my tweets focus on some aspect of content, marketing or publishing. If those interest you, you can follow me @juntajoe.

If you are using Twitter on the Twitter website you probably don’t get all the hype. What you need is a Twitter management system like Tweetdeck or Tweetgrid. That way, you can not only “listen” when people are talking about you, but you can also search on keyword phrases or follow hash tags (#contentstrategy) that are important to you. I prefer Tweetdeck.

If you have a blog or article RSS feed, use Twitterfeed to automatically “tweet” your post or article. I’ve talked to dozens of people who were using tinyurl.com and manually doing this process until they found Twitterfeed. Once that’s done, use the Twitter Facebook app to automatically update your Facebook status through Twitter.

Be democratic. Don’t just push out your own content all day long. Push out interesting and relevant stories that aren’t yours (possibly even your competition). You’ll be viewed as a much more credible source if you are seen as a market servant, instead of just a traffic hog.

Complete your profile. I’m so surprised at the number of people that don’t even complete their name in their Twitter profile. You’ll get less followers without a name.

Don’t use Auto Direct Message. Only use direct messaging for personal notes. Auto DM’s are way too impersonal and salesy for any social media, including Twitter. Don’t believe me? Read this post by Robert Scoble.

Lethal generosity. Read this blog post by Shel Israel on the concept of lethal generosity in social media. Give until it hurts and you will gain followers quickly. Just like our content marketing…relevant, valuable information creates fans out of customers and prospects. It works on Twitter as well.

Shhh…listen! Remember, Twitter’s most important function is as a listening device (also called “listening post”). Whether it’s you, or your social media staffer, someone in your organization should be listening to what’s being said about you, your brand, and your industry.

The first of many Social Media Breakfast Toledo events took place Friday, April 3 2009 at the Elks Lodge in Toledo, Ohio. 79 people attended and another 67 viewed the live streamed video. WTOL filmed the event and provided news coverage. Feedback has been awesome!

The next event will be May 1st 7:30-9:30 am at the Elks Lodge on Holland-Sylvania in Toledo, OH.

Our new babysitter makes me feel uneasy. That stranger in a deserted parking lot offers me unsolicited help. I am driving in an area where I don’t feel safe; yet, I keep going. I give my credit card information easily over the phone even though I am not comfortable with the person on the other end. A contract gets signed with a business professional even though I don’t know the person very well. These are situations that are very real to any on of us. The feeling of threat and fear is all around us. We can protect ourselves if we simply trust our gut instincts, our intuition.

In The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker shows us how to spot even the most subtle signs of danger – before it is too late. Often times, we think that most violent acts or dangers are unpredictable. If I were to interview you after you’ve encountered a situation gone bad; I believe you would admit that you had a bad feeling and you just didn’t listen to it.

This ground-breaking book opened my eyes to the realities that with every person and in every circumstance I take in messages that translate into feelings that translate into daily actions and modes of operation. Our intuition takes it all in and communicates it back to us constantly. Gavin de Becker says that the only time our intuition lies to us is when we don’t listen to it.

While reading this book you will learn specific ways to protect yourself and those you love, including…how you act when approached by a stranger…when you ought to fear someone close to you…what to do if you are being stalked…how to uncover the source of anonymous threats and phone calls…the biggest mistake you can make with a threatening person…and so much more. It is like reading a thriller. Once I started listening to it on CD I couldn’t stop.

In a day and age when we live with suspicious feelings and violence all around us, this book offers some timely insight. I highly recommend it to you as business professionals, as people constantly meeting people who want to develop relationships with us. The quality of your day-to-day life will be greatly improved after you read and apply what you’ve read in this book.

We know how important first and lasting impressions are to our success both personally and professionally. This author changed my understanding and my way of thinking. You owe it to yourself to train yourself to trust your intuition and to learn how to do it effectively. I will guarantee that it will make a huge difference. Befriend your fear. Let it be a gift to help you. I’d lend you my book; however, I really want you to own your own.

The most popular social networking site, Facebook, changed the information that appears on everyone’s home page this week. I’m sure there are a lot of improvements, but of course some glitches too. One big glitch I caught today is